Up to a million Canadians would struggle to cope with a 1 per cent rise in interest rates with 700,000 at risk from even a 0.25 per cent rise

There is no bubble in the BC housing market despite some challenges in the year ahead.

Eric Carlson, founder and CEO of Anthem Properties Group said that the Vancouver market is balanced rather than in bubble territory and predicted that there will be plenty of demand as more people move to the city in 2017.

Around 1,200 attendees at an Urban Development Institute event last week heard from several real estate experts, who predicted that there will be a 10 per cent rise in Vancouver home values this year.

Brian McCauley, president of Concert Properties, said that more rental units are needed in the city to satisfy demand, noting that many of Canada’s rental stock is more than 30 years old.

More communities around transit hubs was the call from Andrew Grant, president of PDI Developments, who predicts 16,000 more tech jobs in the Vancouver area by 2020.

“A wise person once said: ‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them,’” says Anne McMullin, President and CEO, UDI BC. “Our housing crisis is not a new problem. We need to study the best practices of other cities and learn from their mistakes and successes. Together, with all the stakeholders, including three levels of government, business, urban planners, home-seekers, homeowners, transit, seniors’ groups, we can find some solutions.”